For testing various setups I feel it more comfortable to use tar archives instead of images.

• You only save programs and data, no need to fiddle with nullbytes to optimize compression or shrink partition sizes.
• The size of the sd card doesn't matter. It is easy to get the tar ball from a 16GB card and extract it onto a 8GB card (when the programs fit to it).
• You are more flexible in creating additional partitions.

Is it possible to use tar balls instead of images to backup Raspbian?

I want to make my own image file for a Raspberry Pi so I can copy any usable operating system to it and boot it. This way I'm also able to size down partitions or use other partition sizes.

Is it possible to create a new but empty image file and copy an operating system from other sources to it, for example from another SD Card, an available image or a tar archive?

For testing various setups I feel it more comfortable to use tar archives instead of images.

• You only save programs and data, no need to fiddle with nullbytes to optimize compression or shrink partition sizes.
• The size of the sd card doesn't matter. It is easy to get the tar ball from a 16GB card and extract it onto a 8GB card (when the programs fit into it).
  *You are more flexible in creating additional partitions.

Is it possible to use tar balls instead of images to backup Raspbian?

For testing various setups I feel it more comfortable to use tar archives instead of images.

• You only save programs and data, no need to fiddle with nullbytes to optimize compression or shrink partition sizes.
• The size of the sd card doesn't matter. It is easy to get the tar ball from a 16GB card and extract it onto a 8GB card (when the programs fit to it).
• You are more flexible in creating additional partitions.

Is it possible to use tar balls instead of images to backup Raspbian?